Archive for August, 2008

It is said that little drops of water eventually becomes mighty ocean. I have written in one of my books “THE LITTLE FOXES” that big things do not kill people; the big things that kill were infinitesimal or negligible things that were left to build up over time. Oak trees were once acorns. Most of the things or issues that had taken a higher dimension were once minor issues we could easily tackle. Most of the big challenges the nation is facing squarely right now were issues the past people in different tiers of government failed to address. Some refused to solve those problems because of either personal or tribal interest, but the whole polity is now faced with the resultant effects of their decisions.

Since the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta region, the concern had been the oil and not the people living in that region. The egg had looked sweet, delicious, and precious but the chicken that laid the egg is not accorded any attention at all. In the quest to get the egg, farmlands had been destroyed and the rivers had remained polluted. The chicken does not have a place it can call home because all the once condusive habitation had been made desolate by those after its egg. The chicken had been oppressed and suppressed for many years, getting nothing from the sale of its egg. The voice of the chicken was not heard when it was crying, so the chicken had decided to use its sharp mouth and claws against the invaders of its egg. And now, little attention is being considered.

That is just the case of the Niger Deltans. The neglect of the yesteryears had accumulated to a very high proportion, and had become an ocean. The ocean now wants to drown the entire polity. Many conferences and meetings had been convened in the past with nothing coming out of them. The present day government wanted to try another summit but it was resisted. I was part of the people who never wanted any summit of any kind to hold on the Niger Delta issue. We have had too many probes without tangible results, and too many stakeholders meeting without visible solutions. The real issue is too many paper works and no implementation. So much had been discussed but very little had been done. Each government dribbles itself until its tenure elapses, and another would take over from where the last one stopped.

Before the discovery of oil, our economy depended on stuff like cocoa, groundnut, palm oil, coal and the rest. There seemed to have been more developmental impact then than now that we even have oil. Then each region had 50 percent of derivation fund, while the balance of 50 percent was shared among the regions. There was no problem then with the sharing formula but now it has become a big issue. Can’t we revert to this old formula? Many said no because it was no longer the era of groundnut pyramids, cocoa and coal. It may be true that it was no longer the era of groundnut pyramids and cocoa but oil. But why is it that there are greater infrastructural and industrial development in the areas whose era had gone than in the Niger Delta. Their agitation for resource control had been perceived by others wrongly.

I was listening to a speaker of one of the interest groups in the Niger Delta recently. He asked a question along the line. He asked, “Why is it that it is the North that always resists any move to alleviate the Niger Delta problems?” He mentioned different occasions where the North did one thing or the other. He even mentioned what happened during the National Conference in 2005 when they presented the issue of resource control and how the North reacted to it. I do not want to blame anybody or a particular region for the neglect of that region. But all I am saying is that the restiveness of the youths from that region was caused by the neglect of yesteryears. Nobody would have been moved if their activities were not affecting the economy. I do not support taking up arms, and destruction of oil facilities but the attitude of our leaders and their hypocrisy caused it all.

It is time to address this problem before the ocean drowns the polity. Military option is out of it. Seeking military assistance from abroad, bringing in new warships, and sending more men to join the Joint Task Force is only a signal that you are speaking with your mouth and doing another with your legs. It is time to be sincere about developing that region. NDDC is not enough effort. That region needs good road network, enough good bridges, good schools, hospitals, reclamation of land for building of estates and industries, federal presence with projects and engaging idle minds with empowerment programmes.The legislators should look into the derivation formula and come out with something better. Let us stop suppressing the voice of the chicken while we are enjoying the egg. The time to develop that region is now, and not when the oil dries up. If we do not pay that region the right tithe, the devourer might take up what is in the barn. Justice will exalt Nigeria.

Many of us are in the wrong or right places based on our decisions and choices of yesterdays and yesteryears. Most of us took those decisions or choices based on circumstances around us at those points in time. And now we are living out the product of those decisions or choices; because what we think, what we choose, and what we do is who we become. Many had heard the story of Esau and Jacob but ended up labeling Jacob a cheat. But I beg to differ; Jacob is not a cheat, Esau only got the end result of his decision or choice.

Esau preferred the pleasure or satisfaction of his stomach to his future by the choice he made. He was not pressurized or cajoled by his brother to make the choice. His comment was, “and what profit shall this birthright do to me?” He negotiated his birthright with what can satisfy his stomach for that moment. So God would not allow him receive the blessing of his birthright having sold it out to his brother. In our daily lives negotiations are going on at different levels in different forms. But you and I need to be very sensitive so that we do not short change ourselves with things that would jeopardize our future or even kill us.

Some of us are very vulnerable when we are hungry. Most of the time our sense of judgment gets overruled by the urge to satisfy or quench our hunger. Many had compromised their stands just for what would enter their stomach. Many had been bought over with food. Many had revealed top secrets because of food. Many are doing wrong things knowingly just to satisfy their appetite for food. I have heard many robbers confess during interrogations that hunger caused them to take to stealing. Many girls living in brothels claim that hunger was part of what kept them there. Even in the religious circle many had compromised because of what would enter their belly. Always have the future in mind when you want to take some decisions or make choices. Do not let hunger make you take decisions and make choices that would affect you in the long term. Beware of the spirit of Esau!

Do not make critical decisions or choices when you are tired. We do not need to make important decisions when we are tired and deserve rest. Those decisions might not be flawless at the end. I told a friend that a tired man is a tired mind. Some people can give go-ahead orders when they are tired in cases they would have turned down. Some had made regrettable decisions or choices because of fatigue. Your sense of judgment is not that accurate whenever you are tired and need some rest. You can leave that decision for another day or time instead of making costly mistakes in your tired state. It is not good to negotiate for anything concerning your future or about finances when you are tired; you have the tendency to give in to terms or conditions that may affect you adversely in the long term. During your tired moments, shelve vital decisions making and weigh your choices.

Anger is madness for a short while. Your reactions when you are angry can be compared to insanity. You lose your mind when you are angry or really upset. Most of your actions are not calculated or articulated properly. It is most unfortunate that most of us make critical or vital decisions when we are angry. Most of us had regretted most of the decisions we took when we were upset. Many relationships were broken out of anger. Many went back to beg for forgiveness when it dawned on them that their momentary madness had caused great damage. Even the high and the mighty are not exempted from this momentary madness. Most leaders had taken some rash decisions just the very moment they got upset and had to live with the regrets of their actions the rest of their lives. Beware!

Lonely moments can be dangerous moments also. They said an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. King David made the decision to take somebody’s wife in his lonely moments. Most young people are very vulnerable when they are lonely. Even married folks are vulnerable when they are not with their partners; they may make decisions that can hurt their marriages and future in those moments. Many travelers who lodge in hotels far from their place of abode may be tempted because of loneliness to look for women or men of easy virtue to keep them company. Lonely moments had cost some folks their future. Some people also had made terrible mistakes while they were excited or happy.Herod agreed to give the head of John the Baptist on a platter because he was excited and carried away in a party mood. I have seen some folks do absurd things in the name of celebration.

Do not be another Esau. Do not over look the future effect of your actions. Think before you act or say things. Your action today can ruin your tomorrow. Do not act on impulse. Don’t belittle your future to satisfy your appetite today. Don’t make vital decisions in your moments of madness, when you are drunk or over excited.